497 research outputs found
Hidden symmetries for thermodynamics and emergence of relativity
Erik Verlinde recently proposed an idea about the thermodynamic origin of
gravity. Though this is a beautiful idea which may resolve many long standing
problems in the theories of gravity, it also raises many other problems. In
this article I will comment on some of the problems of Verlinde's proposal with
special emphasis on the thermodynamical origin of the principle of relativity.
It is found that there is a large group of hidden symmetries of thermodynamics
which contains the Poincare group of the spacetime for which space is emergent.
This explains the thermodynamic origin of the principle of relativity.Comment: V1: 4 pages, comments/criticisms welcomed; V2: references added; V3:
typos and minor corrections? V4? substantial changes in Section 3 and other
parts mad
Chern-Simons Term for BF Theory and Gravity as a Generalized Topological Field Theory in Four Dimensions
A direct relation between two types of topological field theories,
Chern-Simons theory and BF theory, is presented by using ``Generalized
Differential Calculus'', which extends an ordinary p-form to an ordered pair of
p and (p+1)-form. We first establish the generalized Chern-Weil homomormism for
generalized curvature invariant polynomials in general even dimensional
manifolds, and then show that BF gauge theory can be obtained from the action
which is the generalized second Chern class with gauge group G. Particularly
when G is taken as SL(2,C) in four dimensions, general relativity with
cosmological constant can be derived by constraining the topological BF theory.Comment: Improved abstract and introduction with 11 references added. Accepted
for publication in Physical Review
Entropic Corrections to Coulomb's Law
Two well-known quantum corrections to the area law have been introduced in
the literatures, namely, logarithmic and power-law corrections. Logarithmic
corrections, arises from loop quantum gravity due to thermal equilibrium
fluctuations and quantum fluctuations, while, power-law correction appears in
dealing with the entanglement of quantum fields in and out the horizon.
Inspired by Verlinde's argument on the entropic force, and assuming the quantum
corrected relation for the entropy, we propose the entropic origin for the
Coulomb's law in this note. Also we investigate the Uehling potential as a
radiative correction to Coulomb potential in 1-loop order and show that for
some value of distance the entropic corrections of the Coulomb's law is
compatible with the vacuum-polarization correction in QED. So, we derive
modified Coulomb's law as well as the entropy corrected Poisson's equation
which governing the evolution of the scalar potential . Our study further
supports the unification of gravity and electromagnetic interactions based on
the holographic principle.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, accepted in IJT
Stationary State Solutions of a Bond Diluted Kinetic Ising Model: An Effective-Field Theory Analysis
We have examined the stationary state solutions of a bond diluted kinetic
Ising model under a time dependent oscillating magnetic field within the
effective-field theory (EFT) for a honeycomb lattice . Time evolution of
the system has been modeled with a formalism of master equation. The effects of
the bond dilution, as well as the frequency and amplitude of
the external field on the dynamic phase diagrams have been discussed in detail.
We have found that the system exhibits the first order phase transition with a
dynamic tricritical point (DTCP) at low temperature and high amplitude regions,
in contrast to the previously published results for the pure case \cite{Ling}.
Bond dilution process on the kinetic Ising model gives rise to a number of
interesting and unusual phenomena such as reentrant phenomena and has a
tendency to destruct the first-order transitions and the DTCP. Moreover, we
have investigated the variation of the bond percolation threshold as functions
of the amplitude and frequency of the oscillating field.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
Does entropic force always imply the Newtonian force law?
We study the entropic force by introducing a bound between
entropy and area which was derived by imposing the non-gravitational collapse
condition. In this case, applying a modified entropic force to this system does
not lead to the Newtonian force law.Comment: 11 pages, version to appear in EPJ
Frustrated two-dimensional Josephson junction array near incommensurability
To study the properties of frustrated two-dimensional Josephson junction
arrays near incommensurability, we examine the current-voltage characteristics
of a square proximity-coupled Josephson junction array at a sequence of
frustrations f=3/8, 8/21, 0.382 , 2/5, and 5/12.
Detailed scaling analyses of the current-voltage characteristics reveal
approximately universal scaling behaviors for f=3/8, 8/21, 0.382, and 2/5. The
approximately universal scaling behaviors and high superconducting transition
temperatures indicate that both the nature of the superconducting transition
and the vortex configuration near the transition at the high-order rational
frustrations f=3/8, 8/21, and 0.382 are similar to those at the nearby simple
frustration f=2/5. This finding suggests that the behaviors of Josephson
junction arrays in the wide range of frustrations might be understood from
those of a few simple rational frustrations.Comment: RevTex4, 4 pages, 4 eps figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
A genome-wide association study in multiple system atrophy
Objective: To identify genetic variants that play a role in the pathogenesis of multiple system atrophy
(MSA), we undertook a genome-wide association study (GWAS).
Methods: We performed a GWAS with .5 million genotyped and imputed single nucleotide polymorphisms
(SNPs) in 918 patients with MSA of European ancestry and 3,864 controls. MSA
cases were collected from North American and European centers, one third of which were neuropathologically
confirmed.
Results: We found no significant loci after stringent multiple testing correction. A number of regions
emerged as potentially interesting for follow-up at p , 1 3 1026, including SNPs in the
genes FBXO47, ELOVL7, EDN1, and MAPT. Contrary to previous reports, we found no association
of the genes SNCA and COQ2 with MSA.
Conclusions: We present a GWAS in MSA.We have identified several potentially interesting gene
loci, including the MAPT locus, whose significance will have to be evaluated in a larger sample set.
Common genetic variation in SNCA and COQ2 does not seem to be associated with MSA. In the
future, additional samples of well-characterized patients with MSA will need to be collected to
perform a larger MSA GWAS, but this initial study forms the basis for these next steps
Gestalt for shock and mortality in the emergency department: A prospective study
Objective The diagnosis of shock in patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) is often challenging. We aimed to compare the accuracy of experienced emergency physician gestalt against Li's pragmatic shock (LiPS) tool for predicting the likelihood of shock in the emergency department, using 30-day mortality as an objective standard. Method In a prospective observational study conducted in an urban, academic ED in Hong Kong, adult patients aged 18 years or older admitted to the resuscitation room or high dependency unit were recruited. Eligible patients had a standard ED workup for shock. The emergency physician treating the patient was asked whether he or she considered shock to be probable, and this was compared with LiPS. The proxy ‘gold’ or reference standard was 30-day mortality. The area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC) was used to predict prognosis. The primary outcome measure was 30-day mortality. Results A total of 220 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. The AUROC for LiPS (0.722; sensitivity = 0.733, specificity = 0.711, P < 0.0001) was greater than emergency physician gestalt (0.620, sensitivity = 0.467, specificity = 0.774, P = 0.0137) for diagnosing shock using 30-day mortality as a proxy (difference P = 0.0229). LiPS shock patients were 6.750 times (95%CI = 2.834–16.076, P < 0.0001) more likely to die within 30-days compared with non-shock patients. Patients diagnosed by emergency physicians were 2.991 times (95%CI = 1.353–6.615, P = 0.007) more likely to die compared with the same reference. Conclusions LiPS has a higher diagnostic accuracy than emergency physician gestalt for shock when compared against an outcome of 30-day mortality
Measurement of the branching fraction for
We have studied the leptonic decay of the resonance into tau
pairs using the CLEO II detector. A clean sample of tau pair events is
identified via events containing two charged particles where exactly one of the
particles is an identified electron. We find . The result is consistent with
expectations from lepton universality.Comment: 9 pages, RevTeX, two Postscript figures available upon request, CLNS
94/1297, CLEO 94-20 (submitted to Physics Letters B
Study of the B^0 Semileptonic Decay Spectrum at the Upsilon(4S) Resonance
We have made a first measurement of the lepton momentum spectrum in a sample
of events enriched in neutral B's through a partial reconstruction of B0 -->
D*- l+ nu. This spectrum, measured with 2.38 fb**-1 of data collected at the
Upsilon(4S) resonance by the CLEO II detector, is compared directly to the
inclusive lepton spectrum from all Upsilon(4S) events in the same data set.
These two spectra are consistent with having the same shape above 1.5 GeV/c.
From the two spectra and two other CLEO measurements, we obtain the B0 and B+
semileptonic branching fractions, b0 and b+, their ratio, and the production
ratio f+-/f00 of B+ and B0 pairs at the Upsilon(4S). We report b+/b0=0.950
(+0.117-0.080) +- 0.091, b0 = (10.78 +- 0.60 +- 0.69)%, and b+ = (10.25 +- 0.57
+- 0.65)%. b+/b0 is equivalent to the ratio of charged to neutral B lifetimes,
tau+/tau0.Comment: 14 page, postscript file also available at
http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN
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